Smart City project: Shiv Sena blames Central government’s ‘experiments’ for flooding in Pune

A day after 18 people died in the deluge in Pune, the Shiv Sena blamed the Centre’s Smart City project for the flooding.

A day after 18 people died in the deluge in Pune, the Shiv Sena blamed the Centre’s Smart City project for the flooding.

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“Why did this happen despite the same party [BJP] being in power in the municipal corporation, the state and at the Centre? Haphazard experiments are done under the Smart City project. The ones in power are only interested in contracts and reservations,” the party stated in an editorial on Friday in its mouthpiece Saamana, without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Apart from the Smart City project, the party also blamed the poor planning of the Pune Municipal Corporation and the rising construction activities for the deluge.

“Increasing construction activities, retaining walls of buildings, poor town planning of the municipal corporation are responsible for the floods,” the editorial said.

The BJP-ally also said that unlike Mumbai, Pune has an advantage. The water does not accumulate, as it flows through the nullahs and rivers even during heavy rains, the editorial said.

The Sena, which controls the municipal corporation in Mumbai, is at the receiving each time Mumbai witnesses waterlogging. With the state elections due on October 21, the Sena through its editorials in Saamana is leaving no stone unturned to take potshots at its alliance partner.

In its editorial, it has also blamed several factors for the three instances of waterlogging in Mumbai this monsoon, including high tides, heavy downpour in a short span and encroachments on the banks of Mithi river.

The Sena editorial also slammed those who take to social media to attack the BMC during floods in the city. “Where are the ones who take to social media to attack the BMC when Mumbai, which is surrounded by sea, is flooded due to high tide, but keep mum on Pune?” it stated.